ersatz bayonets from my collection

[free1954]

15 hours ago, robins2 said:

amazing collection of bayonets, would be interested in viewing your other collection of trench clubs/armor

 

regards

 

Bob R.

I also would be interested.

[free1954]

and by the way, great presentation. the repurposing of some of those blades is amazing.

[zuluwar2006]

an ersatz gras bayonet, with WYRTTBG. unit marking and the 13.T also, for wuttemberg Train Abteilung, very rare.

On Roy's Williams book for ersatz bayonets, a similar bayonet is appeared, on NUMBER 766 

[zuluwar2006]

an EB 126 rehilted gras bayonet, very rare, in fair condition

[zuluwar2006]

On 26/4/2018 at 22:45, robins2 said:

amazing collection of bayonets, would be interested in viewing your other collection of trench clubs/armor

 

regards

 

Bob R.

GOOD MORNING, thank you for the kind words from you, 

as soon as i will get some time, i will post more photos from my trench armor collection. I have and a rare trench shield, used and  as a grabenpanzer, i will show some photos soon. Regards, D.

[zuluwar2006]

18 hours ago, free1954 said:

and by the way, great presentation. the repurposing of some of those blades is amazing.

Thank you very much Sir. I am trying to identify the regiments they served tjose bayonets, not an easy work, as often the markings were made at the front line and armourers made them not exactly according orders but as they wished. So is a puzzle, which i am trying to identify, not in success every time!!!!

I will post more items from my collection, as soon as i will get some time.

Regards, D.

P.S. whatever you want to ask, please do thst, is my pleasure to seek answers.

[zuluwar2006]

On 20/4/2018 at 16:36, zuluwar2006 said:

AN EXTREMELY RARE ERSATZ 1842/59, WITH LANDWEHR UNIT MARKING

AN ERSATZ LEBEL BAYONET, WITH WARTIME UNIT MARKING

The 2nd Landwehr Infanterie Regiment, served in the 35th Reserve Division on the Eastern Front, from the outbreak of ww1, until the Octomber 1916, and for its courage, it was awarded the right to add the Kaiser's title, as King of Prussia, to its regimental name. 

In Octomber 1916, the 5ht Landwehr Brigade [2nd and 9th Landewhr Regiments], was transferred to the 226th Infantry Division, which with the 205th, formed the 3rd Reserve Corps of the 10th Army.

It remained on the Eastern Front until the end of the ww1.

The ersatz bayonet 1842/59, fits the Gewehr 71 and 71/84.

As you can see on photos, the alterations are on the muzzle ring which is bushed, from the original opening of the original 23 mm to 17,5 mm.

Also the back of the pommel has been stepped down, to reduce the depth of the T-slot to only 7 mm for a lenght of 38 mm.

All recorded examples of 1842/59, are to the 2nd Landwehr Regiment, so we can assume that they had a very carefull armourer. 

[zuluwar2006]

On 28/4/2018 at 20:44, zuluwar2006 said:

the 128th Infantry Regiment, was formed in Danzig, on 24.3.1881 and served during the ww1, on XVII Army Corps.

the 149th Infantry Regiment [6th West Prussian], was formed in Schneidemul Deutsch - Krone, on 31.3.1897 and served during the ww1, on II Army Corps.

On both examples the pommel has been stepped, to fit the Gewehr 71 and 71/8, for a lenght of 44 mm giving the T-groove a depth of 6mm.

On both examples, a new German crossguard has passed down the tang, to rest against the blade shoulders.

On the first example, the original back hilt of french, has been machined or filled down and there is still the original french steel hilt on crossguard.

On second example, the centre part of the french guard, filed and shape to act as a spacer, then passed down the tang and secured by an allow rivet. The hilt is finally reatached by fitting replacement rivets into new holes drilled throught the tang. The rivet closest to the tang was made of alloy, fitted flush with the surrounding brass.

 

 

[zuluwar2006]

On 26/4/2018 at 22:45, robins2 said:

amazing collection of bayonets, would be interested in viewing your other collection of trench clubs/armor

 

regards

 

Bob R.

Dear Bob

only for you, a specimen of my part collection of trench clubs

i hope you will enjoy them

regards, D.

p.s. more photos will come soon, as i have to make escavations on my collection!!!!!

p.s.2, the third trench club from the wall, had a broken wooden branch, so i glued the old remaining with a new one, with the help of a professional carpenter.

not perfect work, but descent.

[zuluwar2006]

an ersatz very rare for 248 RESERVE infantry regiment

another for 16th infantry regiment [appeared on Roy Williams book for ersatz bayonets].

and a rare bavarian marked

[zuluwar2006]

Captured Modele 1892 bayonet [for berthie french rifle].

This bayonet worn only as a sidearm and has no use as a bayonet, on imperail army, as the german troops were equiped with Lebel 1886/93 rifle, which cannot accept this model of bayonet.

This bayonet with DEUTSCH or ART. DRSD markings, is extremely rare.

On 25 years of colleting, i have seen only 2 examples, the one i bought it, very expensive. 

[robins2]

4 hours ago, zuluwar2006 said:

Dear Bob

only for you, a specimen of my part collection of trench clubs

i hope you will enjoy them

regards, D.

p.s. more photos will come soon, as i have to make escavations on my collection!!!!!

p.s.2, the third trench club from the wall, had a broken wooden branch, so i glued the old remaining with a new one, with the help of a professional carpenter.

not perfect work, but descent.

thanks for posting, nasty looking implements of war, nice collection

 

regards

 

Bob R.

[zuluwar2006]

A VERY RARE ERSATZ BAYONET, WITH ANTLER MARK FOR WYTTEMBERG.

UNIT MARKINGS ARE FOR 248 RESERVE INFANTERIE REGIMENT, MACHINE-GEWEHR COMPANIE

ANOTHER RARE ERSATZ WITHWARTIME UNIT MARKING

13st LANDEWHR INFANTERIE REGIMENT

[zuluwar2006]

my new item at collection

an ersatz for Husaren Regiment marked bayonet

[zuluwar2006]

On 1/5/2018 at 17:23, zuluwar2006 said:

Dear Bob

only for you, a specimen of my part collection of trench clubs

i hope you will enjoy them

regards, D.

p.s. more photos will come soon, as i have to make escavations on my collection!!!!!

p.s.2, the third trench club from the wall, had a broken wooden branch, so i glued the old remaining with a new one, with the help of a professional carpenter.

not perfect work, but descent.

The trench warfare that took place during the Great War was some of the most chaotic and barbaric combat to occur in the modern era. While the First World War is often noted as the war that brought the technological art of killing to its zenith, it was very often the hand-to-hand combat in the trenches, settled with primitive weapons, that decided who lived and who died. The list of technological weapons advancements achieved during World War One is almost myriad. The machine gun allowed hundreds to be killed, maimed and wounded in mere seconds. This single advancement in weaponry certainly caused more casualties during the war than any other weapon and forever changed the face of modern warfare; ending forever the massed frontal assault as a primary combat tactic. Other weapons like the tank and armored cars were developed in direct response to the effectiveness of the machine gun. Still more modern weapons like the airplane and poisonous gas also made their power felt on the battlefield, again changing combat tactics forever. Massive artillery pieces, firing huge, high-explosive shells were developed in an attempt to destroy the trench systems that developed along the Western Front, which only resulted in the trenches becoming more complex, more heavily reinforced and the bunkers being dug that much deeper and built with that much reinforcement.

With this stalemate of forces, new tactics were developed. Among those was the trench raid. The trench raid was typically conducted by a small band of men, under the cover of darkness. This allowed them to cross No Man’s Land, the desolation between the parallel lines of trenches, with some level of impunity, as the machine gunners could not see them. Once across the field of desolation, the group would explore enemy defenses. Sometimes they would simply perform reconnaissance, looking for (or even creating) gaps in barbed wire in preparation of a coming assault against the line, or looking for machine gun emplacements. Sometimes the raiding parties entered the enemy trenches. This could again be for reconnaissance, but also for the purposes of capturing a prisoner to integrate or simply to wreak momentary havoc; causing the defenders to lose precious sleep and having great physiological and demoralizing effect. During these raids, silence was imperative, so firearms were not a practical weapon. The up close and personal nature of the action necessarily required the most primitive of weapons, bare hands, bayonets, knives and clubs. For the defenders, in the dark and not sure where a fired bullet would strike (as likely friend as foe), these same weapons became the weapons of choice.

The trench club took numerous forms during the First World War, evolving as the war progressed. Initially, handy pieces of stout wood, such as the haft of an English entrenching tool, or a simple shovel or pick itself, made an ersatz weapon. However, these were soon “improved” in the field. Clubs were both “factory made” and “field made”, and often the factory-made club was further modified in the field. The typical club, regardless of country of origin, typically ranged in size from slightly over 12” in length, to just shy of 3’ in length; with most falling in the 16” to 20” range. The body of the club was usually of hardwood, turned round and tapered so the head was larger than the grip area. Grooves or other grip enhancements were standard, as was some sort of hole in the grip for attachment of a thong or lanyard. The piece of wood might be “enhanced” with some sort of metal end or reinforcement to prevent the head from breaking when it was used. Additionally, anti-personnel projections might be added, from items as simple as hobnails or horseshoe nails, to specifically manufactured spiked and weighted attachments. The ends were sometimes weighted as well to increase their terminal effectiveness. Sometimes this took the form of simple iron or lead rings or inserts, and sometimes it involved more creative additions like the bodies of grenades or other ordnance. Over time, certain styles evolved. The British club tended to be a turned wood weapon, shaped very much like a small baseball bat or the classic London Bobby’s truncheon. The simple, often mass-produced, wood clubs were often modified in the field to taste of the individual user. The Royal Engineers also produced special trench clubs with lead ring reinforcements that usually incorporated some sort of metal studs at the head as well. German clubs tended to be produced by pioneer and engineer battalions as well, with some units literally setting up ersatz factories in the field. These clubs often followed the basic British form of a bat shaped club with projections and additions at the top. The Germans also produced metal clubs with thin steel shafts with a weighted head. The most infamous and barbaric of the WWI trench clubs were certainly those produced by the Austrians, which primarily saw use along the Austrian – Italian lines in the Alps. These clubs tend to bring to mind medieval peasant armies brandishing maces and morning stars. The Austrian clubs often included long iron spikes that protruded from the head, whose appearance was so wicked that the Italians launched a very effective propaganda campaign against the Austrians using images of Austrian clubs captured in various campaigns, with captions indicating the clubs were intended to kill Italian soldiers who had been rendered defenseless during gas attacks. While the use of trench clubs appears to be universal throughout the war by all sides, the Italians claim to have never used these weapons that they considered to be so barbaric.

 

[robins2]

amazing collection  thanks for posting

 

regards

 

Bob R.

[zuluwar2006]

On 12/5/2018 at 10:44, robins2 said:

amazing collection  thanks for posting

 

regards

 

Bob R.

ANOTHER ONE, A BRITISH TRENCH CLUB, FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF MY BAEMENT, A FEW YEARS BEFORE BOUGHT FROM UK.

[free1954]

sorry, I looked at them too. nice, thanks for posting.

[zuluwar2006]

another ersatz plain 98/05 bayonet

with rare war time unit marking

22 Infantry Regiment

It is strucked by a bomb fragment on the handle mayebe????

The ersatz bayonets with unit markings, are 0,5%, 1 in 200, so a rare piece.

Regards, D.

[robins2]

 

one from my collection, hit by 303 bullet, came with rifle in background

 

[zuluwar2006]

On 19/05/2018 at 13:24, free1954 said:

 

 

On 19/05/2018 at 13:24, free1954 said:

 

more ersatz unit markings, very rare and interesting also.

Off course my latest item, a berthier french bayone [Mousqueton Modele 1892]t, with DEUTSCH marking and a very rare regimental marking.

The unit marking on this berthier bayonet, is the ONLY one of the 2 known until today [the other one is 6.1.158] and have NEVER seen before.

So, an extremely rare bayonet, in fair condition.

This kind of bayonets [Berthier], were never used as bayonets but always[solely]  as sidearms and they are unmodified by the germans.

On 1914, there was in service only the 1st model, so is logical why we have not seen the 2nd model used by germans. 

I hope you enjoy my photos, more phpotos will come soon.

Regards, D.

[zuluwar2006]

and a rare photograph, shown the use of ersatz Mosin Nagant bayonet during ww1 from german soldiers [on the right, as we see the photo].

[MikeyH]

18 hours ago, zuluwar2006 said:

 

more ersatz unit markings, very rare and interesting also.

Off course my latest item, a berthier french bayone [Mousqueton Modele 1892]t, with DEUTSCH marking and a very rare regimental marking.

The unit marking on this berthier bayonet, is the ONLY one of the 2 known until today [the other one is 6.1.158] and have NEVER seen before.

So, an extremely rare bayonet, in fair condition.

This kind of bayonets [Berthier], were never used as bayonets but always[solely]  as sidearms and they are unmodified by the germans.

On 1914, there was in service only the 1st model, so is logical why we have not seen the 2nd model used by germans. 

I hope you enjoy my photos, more phpotos will come soon.

Regards, D.

 

The hilt on this example seems to have been shotblasted at some time?

 

Mike.

[zuluwar2006]

28 minutes ago, MikeyH said:

 

The hilt on this example seems to have been shotblasted at some time?

 

Mike.

mike, i am not sure on which photo ypu are refering to, please let me know

all the best

D.

[zuluwar2006]

Letter sent to a Josef Grübel c/- Post Siegsdorf near Traunstein. Einheitsstempel: Bayr. Res. Inf. Rgt. Nr. 15. 12. Kompagnie. Postage cancelled 17.1.1915 (K.B. Ersatz Division).

A fine portrait of a young Bavarian Infanterist from Kgl. Bayer. Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr. 15.

Of note is his sawback S.98/02 bayonet.

ALSO, AN HUSSARD WITH ERSATZ BAYONET.